Wire-fence-weaving machine.



Patented July 25, I899.

6. WQWHITTINGTON. WIRE FENCE WEAVING MACHINE.

(Application filed Sept. 19, 1898.)

6 Sheets-Sheet I.

(No Mbdel.)

wilmeooay jwoamtoz 1'5: NORRIS Pzvzns co. momumo" WASNINGTON. D c.

N0. 629,637; Patented July 25, I899. G. W.'WH|TT|NGTON.

WIRE FENCE WEAVING MACHINE.

(Application filed Sept. 19, 1898.]

6 $heets'Sheet 2 (No Model.)

"ma NORRIS PETERS ca. PHo'ro-uwou WASHINGTON, at c No. 629,637. PatentedJuly 25, I899.

G. W. WHITTiNGTON.

WIRE FENCE WEAVING MACHINE.

(Application filed Sept. 19, 1898.)

6 Sheets-Sheet 3.

(No Model.)

v I I y 6 Av Au Q 5511 auto: mu

nu; mam Pawns co. PHOTO-LITNO, WASHXNGTON. u. c.

No.. 629,637. Patented July 25,- I899;

G. W. WHITTINGTON.

WIRE FENCE WEAVING MACHINE.

(Application filed Sept. 19, 1898.)

6 Sheets8heef 4.

{No Mu dal.)

THE Nonms PEYERS co, woro-umo. msmnsm-. n. c:

No. 629,637. Patented July 25,1899.

G. W. WHITTINGTON.

WIRE FENCE WEAVING MACHINE.

(Application filed Sept. 19, 1898.) (-No Model.) 6 Sheets-Sheet 5,

nvemfoz No. 629,637. Patented 1uly 25, I899.

12. .w. wmnmemu.

WIRE FENCE WEAVllflG MACHINE. (Application filed Sept. 19, 1998.)

(No Model.) Sheets$heet 6.

vi mcooco an venboz 93%;; (Rh anna I l a m: Norms Perms ca, mom-Lima,WASHINGTON, n c.

ITED PATENT Orrrcn.

GEORGE w. wnirrm'eron, or INDIANAPOLIS, INDIANA. 1

[ WIRe-FEN E-W VING MACHINE.

srEo-I IcATionforinin part of Letters ratentn ezaesv, dated Ju-1y 2 5, 199.

Applicationfiled-September19,1898. Seria1N0 .69 1',360r (roman) i Be itknown that I, GEORGE w. wmm

TON, a citizen of the United States, residing at Indianapolis, in thecounty of Marion and State of Indiana, have invented new and usefulImprovements in. Wire-'Fence-Weaving .Machines,of which-the following isa specification. E I

My invention relates to. certain improvements in wire-fence-weavingmachines; and

it consists in a mechanism of peculiar construction and operation toproduce wire ,fenc-. ing the meshes of which shall be. of half-diamondshape or approximately triangular in form, the juncture at the cornersofeach.

of which-are hereinafter fully described and specifically claimed.

In the accompanying drawings similar numerals designate like parts iuallthe figures.

Figure 1 is an end elevation of the machine, showing the drivingmechanism thereof. Fig.

2 is an elevation of the opposite end of the machine, with itsreciprocating mechanism for operating the drag-plates'of thespool-carriers. Fig. 3 is a detail view showing a plan of thereciprocating mechanism of the dragplates. Fig. 4 is an enlargedtransverse sectional elevation of the spool-carriers'and their rotatingmechanism, taken through the line A B of Figs. 5, 7, 10, 11, and 13.sectional plan view at E F of Fig. 7, showing the drag-plates wherebythe spool-carriers are moved alternately from one revolver to anotherand represents the said plates in their extreme positions after movingin the direction indicated by the arrows. Fig, 6 represents thedrag-plates in their extreme opposite positions. Fig. 7 is alongitudinal section through the line C D of Fig. 6, showing the lowerguide and the supporting-beam in which the lower dragplate operates andshowing the relative positions of the spoolcarrier revolver. Fig.Sisadetailview showingin elevation one of the wire-twisters. Fig.

'9 is a like view showing the wire-receiving Fig. 5 is a slots and thespool-carrier guideways. Fig. 10 is a plan view of a portion of theupper guide-beam, with slots connecting the wirereceiving slots ofeach'fco'nsecntive wiretwiste'r, through and by which the Wiresarealternately moved back and'forth from one wire-twister to itsadjacent wiretwister. Fig.

11 is a plan view of the lower guide-beam,

with guideways by'and through which the base-guide strips or bars of thespool-carriers slide and are guided during the movement of thesp0ol-carriers from their revolvers to the revolvers next thereto.Fig.12 is a detail view, in side elevation, of a spool-carrierrevolver.Fig. 13 is a detail view showing the guidewayswherein the guide bars orstrips of'the spool-carrier rest. Fig. 14 is abroken sectional view ofthe lower guide-beam, taken throughthe line G H of Figs. 7 and 11. Fig.

'15 isa perspective view of one of the marginal wire tension orstretching pinions for holding the marginal wires of the'fence duringthe weaving process, andFig. 16 represents the manner in which thefence-wires are secured together and the style'of mesh produced. I

The frame of the machine is composed of two end pieces land 2, aconnecting rear beam, shownby dotted lines at 3, (seeFigs. 1 and 2,) thesaid connecting-beam secured by bolts, as shown at 4, and the upper andlowerdrag-plate-supporting beams, (marked, re-

spectively, 5 and 6,) the former, 5, having its ends secu red to the topof the end pieces 1 and 2 and the latter, 6, secured to the insidesupporting-brackets 6 of said end pieces by means of bolts, as shown at7.

The frame end 1 is provided with a projecting stud 9,011 which isjournaled adrivingpulley 8, having an inwardly-projecting hub p 10, towhichis keyed or otherwise secured a drive-pinionll to engage agear-wheel 12, formed on the inner face of the disk of a mutilated bevelgear-wheel 13, secured on the shaft 14, so as to rotate with same in thedirection indicated by the arrow. The said wheel13 is designed to rotatecontinuously and to intermittently rotate the bevel-pinion l5 and itsshaft 16. The relative proportion of the aforesaid wheel and pinion aresuch that while the wheel makes one-half of a revolution the pinion willmake two complete ing journal-bearings in boxes 23.

a l p cease? revolutions,when by reason of the toothless portion of thewheel being presented to the pinion thelatter ceases to revolve; Inorder that the pinion 15 and its shaft 16 and all the operatingmechanism connected therewith and deriving motion therefrom be held-atrest during the period of the disengagement ofthe aforesaid gear, oneend of the shaft 16 is provided with a square or rectangular flatgear 13is disengaged from the pinion 15, and

the said block 17 begins to disengage with the cam as the first tooth ofthe mutilated gear beginsto engage the pinion 15.

The shaft lfiis-journaled in boxes 19 on the outer sideof the frameend 1. On one end of this shaft is secured a spur-pinion 20 to engage aspur-wheel 21 of a shaft 22, hav- The ratio of the diameters of thepinion and wheel is preferably oneto four, that the pinion may make tworevolutions to a one-half revolution of.the wheel during one period oftime and during the next equal period he at rest. Thus the saidmechanism operates continuously so long as the driving-pulley 8 isrotated.

The wheel 21 is provided with a crankrpin 24, from which motion isimparted through a connecting-rod 26 to a reciprocating block 25, thesaid block being provided for said purpose with a journal-pin 29. V Theconnectingrod 26 is formed in two parts with a screw is imparted.

For convenience in handling the rack 33 is composed of a series ofsections placed end to end and in perfect alinement, and thus securelyriveted between an upper and a lower guide-strip, (marked, respectively,35 and 36.) The edges of these strips are planed truly,

and the edges which are next the teeth prothe said parts. is eifected. Itwisters 48 are also provided at opposite sides Thus theyserve tothrough the rotating pieces 34 for the;pas'- sage of the running wiresof the fencing,

around which the other wires of the fencing fully described. v

are twisted and secured, as hereinafter more The top surfaces of. therotating'pieces 34 are each provided with parallel grooves 39 to lreceive thebottom guide-strips 40, formedintegral on the unders'urfacesof the journals 41of thespool-carriers 42. The said journalshave bearingsin the drag-plates 43 and 44,

while the upper journals'45 of the spool-carriers have their bearings inthe drag-plates 46 and 47, and between each pair of opposing plates saidspool-carriersare revolved, as 1 indicated by the arrows in Figs. .5 and6, either. i

to the right or leftto twist the wires around the running wires.Thedrag-plates andtheir 3 operating mechanism will behereinaftermorefully described. H

The wire-twisters 48 (see Figs. stand 10) are journaled in the upperbeam 5 andfare .49, whichare adapted to. receive the guidestrips 50,formed on the upper ends of the spoolcarriers, bywhich means. a couplingof The said wirewith vertical grooves or slits 51,.(see Figs. 9 and 10,)so as to be inalinement with the wire-guide slots 52 after thewire-twisters have been rotated into position to permit the wire engagedby the twister 48 to be transferred therefrom to theslot 51 of thetwister 48 At the same time the next wire is passed from the twister 43to. the twister 48, and so on, according to the number of twistersemployed in the machine. This interchanging of the wires is performedwhile the twisters 48 are at rest, during which time the woven-wirefencing passes over the receiving-roller 53, under the tension-roller54, and over the delivery-roller 55 to the reel 56, the latter operatedby ratchet mechanism which is variable and intermittent in its motion,as is hereinafter more fully described.

That end of the shaft 14 which has its hearing in the frame end 2 has amutilated bevel gear-wheel 57 secured thereon, which it will beparticularly observedis in mesh with and has revolved a pinion58oue-fourth of a revolution or one-half the required rotation to bemade thereby during one period of' time, while the pinion 15 attheopposite end of the frame is at rest and has been at rest one-half ofits period of motion or during the quarter of a revolution of the shaft14. The reason formed on the opposite sides of the h ub of thebevel-pinion 58 to retain 'saidpinion and its shaft 61 at rest. I

The vertical shaft 61 is journaled in the joint-bearings'62 of the endframe Zand has a supporting-collar 61, by which-either a 've'r- "-of aconnecting-rod 65, the opposite end of said rod being connected with theforked end of a lever 66 by a' pin 67.

keyed or otherwise secured to a rock-shaft 68,

' The lever66 is on which is also secured the top and bottom arms 69.The said rock-shaft is journaledin the upper and lower'bearings 70,which are connected withthe frame end 2 bolts, as shown at 71'.

The upper drag-plates 46 47 and'the lower drag-plates 43 44 arerespectively connected with the oppositely-projecting top and bottomarms 69 by connectingrrods 72and 73,

' through which motion'is imparted to the drag- I plates, so thatthe topplates 46 and the bottom plates 43 shall traverse simultaneously in onedirection, while the .upper drag-plate 47and the lower drag-plate 44shall traverse simultaneously in the opposite direction.

Referring to Fig. 5, it will be seen that the set of plates 43, 43 and43 are represented as having traversed their full extent to the left andare at rest, while the drag-plate sections 44, 44, and 44 have traversedtheir full extent to the right and are also at rest.

This movement of the plates causes a transposition of the spool-carriers42. For example,

the spool-carrier 42 has been transferred from the rotating piece 34" tothe rotating piece 34, (see also Fig. 7,) and in like manner have therest of the spool-carriers iuthis row been transferred to their adjacentrotating pieces.

Similarly the spool-carrier 42 on the opposite row is transferred fromthe rotating piece 34 to the rotating piece 34 and all the remains ingspool-carriers in this row are transferred to the rotating pieces nextthereto, as shown in Fig. 5. This transposition of spool-ca rriers 42causes the wires from the spools 74 to cross each other and likewise tocross the straight or parallel wires of the fencing. It also causes thesaid cross-wires to be moved into the slits of their respective twistersto be wound or twisted together-that is, (see details, Figs. 10 and 16,)out of the slots 51 of the twister 48 along the slot 52 into the slot51- of the twister 48 and simultaneously from the slot 51, of 48 alongthe slot 52 into the slot 51 of the twister 48 and so on throughout therow of twisters.

The distances between each pairof rotating pieces 34 are variable orunequal, the space between each pair of spool carriers correspondin gwith the size of the meshes required in the fencing. In this case themeshes gradu'allydiminish in depth toward the bottom edge of thefencing, as will be seen on referby means'of.

ring to Figs. 5 and 6. The distance-,therefore, of each of thedrag-plates 44 ,44, and

44 and the drag plates 43?, 43 and 43 will necessarily be diEerent theone from the other. To accomplish thisobject, I'provide meansto producelost motion between each of the plates, as will be now described. Thesaid means consists of strips or'b'ars of metal and 76, which arefitted. in grooves formed in the drag-plates 44, 44, and 44 and thedrag-plates 43, 43 and 43 The strip or bar75 is securely riveted at oneend to the plate 43 only, and the remainingportion of said stripor barworks freely in'the grooves of thedrag-plates 43 and 43". A stop-pin 7.7

to the difference between said plate 43 and the lesser distance to hetraveled by the plate I engages the end of the drag-plate43 after t thedrag-plate has traversed a distance equal 43, and another stop-pin 78 isriveted or otherwisesecured to the said strip 75 to en-' gage the endof. the drag-plate 43 when the diference of the travel betweenthe nowremaining distance to be traversed by the plate the plate 43 is reached,andthis last plate is therefore traversed a distance equal to the entiremovement of the plate 43 lessthe sum of the lost motion between theadjacent and abutting plates. It will also. be readilyunderstood onreferring to Fig. 5 that the plate 44 has traversed. the full distanceof the throw of' the rocker-arm 69 without lost motion and that theplates 44 and 44 have traversedthe same distance asthe plates 43* and43, but in an opposite direction to same. 7

The relative positions of the aforesaid plates after traversing in anopposite direction to that above described is shownjn Fig. 6 and needsno further description.

The drag-plate sections are each provided with elongated slots 80,through which project pins 79 for the purpose of retaining the plates inposition when at the end of their strokes as well as to serve as guidesfor same when in motion.

Referring to Fig. 2, the reel 56 is provided with arms 81, which arepivotally connected at their innerends with the inner sides of thereel-disks. The said disks are also provided with stops 82, againstwhich the arms contact when the reel is rotated in the directionindicated by the arrow. The ends of the 43 and the lesser distance to betraveled by arms on the opposite end of the reel-shaft 83 supportangle-iron rails 84, upon which the fencing is wound.

drawn from its frame, when by turning the shaft 83 in the directionindicated by the arrow I) the pivotal points of the arms 81 are removed,which action causes the angle-bars 84 to be brought closer together,thus reducing the diameter of the reel, that the fencing may be the moreeasily removed therefrom.

A ratchetwheel 85 is secured on the reel shaft 83, and a lever 86 isloosely fitted onthe g easer said shaft between the ratchet-wheelandthe' frameend 1. This lever isprovided with one or more pawls 87,adapted to operate on pins 88, so as to engage the teeth of theratchetwheel. Whenmore pawls than one are used, their lengths are madeto vary, sothat only one of the pawls will engage the teeth of the wheelat one time when itbecomes necessary to impart a rotation to said wheelless than the pitch of the ratchet-teeth. Suitable pawls '89 arepivotally connected with the frame end 1 and provided withgravity-weights for the purpose of retaining the said pawls inengagement with the teeth of thewheel 85.

A connecting-rod 89, having oneof itsends fitted on thecrank-pin 90,secured to the face of the mutilated bevel gear=wheel 13, is providedatits opposite end withapin 91, which iscadapted to operate in the slot99lofrthe rocking lever 86.

Radial arms 93 arepivotally mounted on the shaft 14, carrying at theirfree ends the.

roller 94, which extends from arm to arm over the reel and is adapted tocontact with the fencing as it is being reeled. Thus as thediameter ofthe roll increases the ends of the arms ascend and carry with them thearm 95, which is provided with a segmental slot adapted to receive theprolonged end of the pin 88, which is therefore elevated in the slot 92,and the amount of rotation of the ratchetwheel is reduced. Consequentlythe reel is proportionately diminished, and so as thefencing is reeledto increase its diameter a proportionate reduction of the amount of therotation of the ratchet-wheel 85 is caused to compensate for theincreased diameterof said reel. a

The foot of the arm 95 is preferably made segmental in form in order tofit into the.

segmental groove of the arm 93, and the said form of construction isprovided for the purpose of permitting the arm 95 to be either V raisedor lowered to decrease or increase the amount of the rotation of thereel andto adjust the same to adapt the'feed to the different grades ofcoarseness or fineness of the wires of which the fencingis composed.

Invorder to prevent creeping or distortion of the outer straight ormarginal wire of the fenc ing while under construction, I provide thetension-pinions 96, having teeth 97, the said teeth inclined on theirhearing or outer, sides for the purpose of counteracting the tendency ofthe marginal wires from being drawn inwardly by the cross-wires duringthe operation of twisting. Thus they operate to retain said wires inalinement.

The rollers 96 are arranged in pairs at each marginal wire of thefencing and are supported in the journal-bearings 98 and 99 at the .topof the beam 5.

The receivingroller 53 is journaled in brackets 100, which are bolted tothe ends of the top beam 5. This roller is preferably composed of theend disks 53, secured on the shaft 101, and peripheral round rods 102are se proper alinement, as described-,the strip secured at one end, toone of the plate-sections and theremaining partof the {strip adapted tooperate in the groovesof the other plates,

the extent of said operation being limited by stop-pins connected withthe strip, substantially as and forth e purpose set forth.

2. In a \vire-fence-Weaving machine,i'the combination witha series: orrevolvers ar ranged in a single row, means for alternately rotating saidrevolversandretaining themat rest, saidrmeans adapted torotatesaidjrevolvers alternately infopposite directions, a, series ofspool-carriers arrangedin opposite rows each of said opposing .rowsadapted to be traversed simultaneously in opposite directions, of aseries of wire-twisters arranged in a single row above saidspool-carriers and in line with said revolvers, said wire-twistersadapted to be engaged by said spool-carriers to turn with said.revolvers and saiduwiretwisters provided vs 'ithwire-receiving slitsornotches formed vertically on their opposite sides and a conduit betweeneach-of the pairs of said Wire-twisters and connecting the wirereceivingslits or notches thereof.

I 3. In a wire-fence-weavingmachine, the

combination with a series of toothed revolvers and a series ofwire-twisters both of which 7 are arranged in a single row each revolverhaving an axial opening or oonduit,verticallysupported studs whereonsaid revolvers are mounted, said studs drilled axially to form lowerwire-conduits and connecting with said conduits of said revolvers,spool-carriers between said revolvers and said wire-twisters and meanswhereby said spool-carrier are engaged by both said revolvers and saidwiretwisters said twisters having notches adapted to receive the wiresfrom the spools of said carriers, and a conduit between each of thepairs of wire-twisters and connecting the conduit slits or notches ofeach, of a reciprocating rack meshing with all the series of re volversand a suitable cammechanism whereby said rack is alternately held atrest and traversed in alternate opposite directions.

4. In a wire-fence-weaving machine, the combination witha seriesof'spool-carriers arranged in opposing parallel rows and each opposingpair having alternate motion of rotation in alternate opposingdirections around their axes, a period of rest, and a motion oftranslation at right angles with said axes and in alternate oppositedirections, a series of wire-twisters above each of the pairs ofspoolcarriers and adapted to be engaged by the latter to be rotatedtherewith, means for conducting the wires from the spools of theirspool-carriers to the wire-twisters and means whereby a third wire isconducted vertically between said pairs of spool-carriers to saidwire-twisters to be united and twisted with the spool-wires, of areceiving-roller above said twisters, a reel Whereon the Woven wire iswound and suitable means whereby said reel is rotated to wind said fencewhile said spool-carriers are at rest from rotation and during theperiod of the traversing of said spool-carriers to cross the spool-wiresand means as described whereby said reel is held 15 my hand in thepresence of two subscribing 20 witnesses.

GEORGE W. WHITTINGTON.

Witnesses:

THOMPSON R. BELL, FRED L, CANINE.

